


Dinner

by alafaye



Series: Romance Between The Sheets [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-01
Updated: 2011-09-01
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:17:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <i>Alley</i>. John suggests dinner and Greg's confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner

**Author's Note:**

> The boys continue their adventures, but this time decided to stop having sex in order to eat. Go figure--they haven't played by any plan I've done yet so who says they will now?

"Dinner?"

John was smiling, softly and comfortably. It put Greg off guard, seeing that smile. It was one he had only seen before in the early mornings, following a night of sex that was better than the one before. If Greg had to name it, he'd call it "John in love". Having seen it, though, only during morning afters, he had called it "endorphins are still flying through his system" smile.

Now, though, well, this was new.

Which is why it had a new title.

But it didn't make sense. Greg was some years older, divorced and with two kids. John was still young enough and handsome enough to pull anyone he wanted. He didn't have baggage (well, other than some lingering PTSD that wasn't actually that) and if he wanted, he could start his own practice.

"Yes, dinner," John said. "It's what two people do when they are dating."

"Dating?" Greg choked out.

"We have shared a meal before," John said as his smile fell and his face became thoughtful.

"Well, yeah, but that was after a case," Greg said. "I suspected neither of us had eaten all that well that day and we did need the energy for..." He flushed a bright red, remembering. His cock did, too, and it stood up a bit straighter, wanting more.

John chuckled. "True. And you're right, this will be different."

Greg groaned. "I knew it. This is a date."

John shrugged and nodded. "Of course. Why not?"

"I don't have any objections, I just--"

"What?"

"I just...well, you and I, we've never. It's always...sex."

"Are you saying it was just sex for you?" John looked decidedly unhappy about that.

Greg swallowed hard. He knew he had misstepped, but he hadn't meant to. "Course not. I mean it." He put his hand on John's cheek. "And it's not that I don't want to. I just..."

"Sherlock," John muttered. He huffed and sat up, reaching for a pair of trousers that had been thrown to the chest of drawers in their hurry a few hours ago.

Greg shifted, knowing he really had done it now. He chose to remain silent while John paced, thoughtful. "He told you that there were more women than men in my past and that it was highly likely that I was looking only for women to date, not men. He said our relationship was only fleeting." He stopped and pinned Greg with a fierce stare. "Am I right?"

Greg sighed and nodded. John growled. "And you believed him?"

"John, we've shared one meal and it was post case, when we needed the energy! And not just for sex!" Greg's fist hit the bed in frustration and he rubbed his head with his other hand. "All we've done these last few weeks is have sex and Sherlock's a brilliant detective and what else am I supposed to think?"

"And our mornings together?" John asked quietly.

Greg froze in the motions of finding his own pants and trousers. He had fleeting memories of seeing them land somewhere near the bed, but he could be wrong. When he heard John speak, he looked up. "What?"

John licked his lips and sat on the bed next to Greg. They weren't touching, but Greg felt John as surely as if they were. "When we wake up in the morning, tangled together and sharing kisses before washing up, what are those?"

"Endorphins," Greg offered weakly.

John was silent, looking at Greg. Greg tried to keep still, but John's stare was heavy and unrelenting. He eventually got out of the bed to find his clothes and pulled them on. It felt odd, though, difficult. He didn't want to go and he wanted to find out if they could have that dinner. He knew, however, that he had made a mistake and would have to force down his pride to admit it.

"We should be able to get a table at the new restaurant a few blocks over," Greg offered.

John's face didn't transform with hope or anything good. It stayed the same, heavy and dark and confused. Greg hated that he had done that--the only way John should look is with happiness or lust. He was a man made for the good things in life and making people feel them. It was why he was such a brilliant doctor, Greg thought.

John eventually nodded. "All right. Tonight at eight? Provided there is no case?"

Greg smiled. "It's a date."

John walked over to him and kissed him, soft and slow, hand cupping Greg's cheek. "And we're not done with this conversation. Not by a long shot. I think we need to clear the air a bit. But you need to go--we'll only hurt each other if you stay."

"We all must have done something good to get a man like you, John Watson," Greg muttered. It was true--the man was just amazing and patient.

John smiled a little. "Go. Work, do your job, and I'll see you at eight."

~~~

 _Text Message Waiting, From: J. Watson_

 _Forgot to mention, I'll be picking you up. Until tonight._

~~~

Greg was nervous. Very nervous. He hadn't been this nervous since he had been waiting for his first child to be born. True, he had been more nervous then, but he was approaching that level. He had managed to leave the Yard early and gone on to take an hour long shower. Then, the entire contents of his closet were inspected and dismissed and looked at again. The restaurant wasn't upscale, just a little out-of-the-way hole-in-the-wall place, but it was a date, with John Watson. Their first.

This was different from the hours they had spent in bed, learning each others bodies and responses.

They might have sex at the end of this date, but they might not. The sex wasn't important this time. This time, instead of knowing that they would exchange pleasantries and then be off to mess up the bed, again, they were doing something new. He didn't know what to expect.

It had been several years since he'd been on a date.

Half seven and he was finally choosing what he was going to wear.

At quarter of, the doorbell rang.

Flustered, he nearly fell face first on his floor as he tripped over the air. He ran a hand down his shirt to smooth non-existent wrinkles and opened the door. "You're...oh."

Sherlock Holmes was standing there, looking calm. "John would not be early. When it comes to matters of the heart, he is on time. Tries to be, at any rate. And you, Lestrade, most certainly fall into that category."

Greg knew his life would make a great sitcom, but some days it was harder to bear. "What do you want?"

"Only to tell you to be careful with John," Sherlock said. "I have a new client that requires some stealth work and while John would usually be right on my heels, he turned me down. Therefore, Lestrade, you are playing a dangerous game."

"Me?" Greg was getting something like butterflies, but worse though not heartburn. This was a churning sensation that threatened to choke him.

Sherlock's face turned a bit dark. "You. In the time we have been flat mates, he had never once turned down the Game in favor of a date. Do not mess this up."

The threat of what Sherlock would and could do if Greg did was left unspoken, but hung between them. Sherlock nodded his head and walked off, slipping into the darkness which should have been impossible in the light pollution of the city, but which he managed. He was still gaping after the man when a taxi pulled up.

~~~

"Sherlock is a bit frightening," Greg said on the way to the restaurant.

John blinked. "What? Oh. He said he had something to do before leaving the flat. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

John put his hand on Greg's. "I fear that I am Sherlock's closest friend and one of a few. In fact, I would dare say that in his lifetime, I may be the one he likes the most."

"Shouldn't I be harassed by your family and not your flat mate?" Greg asked. "And maybe later on? Like, months from now?"

"My family is a sister who is often too drunk to know what day it is or the time," John said. "And as for Sherlock, well, he's a bit intense."

"That's an understatement," Greg muttered.

"Do you mind?" John asked. "I know it's odd, but Sherlock is a lot like a brother to me."

Greg smirked and squeezed John's hand. "It's fine. He doesn't want to jump into bed with us and I suspect he won't be showing up on our date unless it's an absolute emergency."

"Lucky you," John said. "He has interrupted my dates before." He smiled at Greg and rubbed his thumb over Greg's skin. "I think he knows, though, that you're different."

The cab slid to a stop and John led the way out of the cab. As they waited a moment for a table, John added, "He respects that. Which you should know means that he was testing you before."

Greg felt the floor open up beneath him as he tracked his latest conversations with Sherlock. He swore under his breath and flushed in embarrassment. "Figures."

"Older brother syndrome," John said. "Could be worse--his brother offered to bribe me when I first met Sherlock."

Greg was unsurprised to find that he wasn't surprised. He shook away his thoughts as they were shown to a relatively private table. Their drink orders were taken and then there was silence. Greg wondered if they were going to pretend the morning argument hadn't happened or if they were going to let it linger like a bad spirit.

He cleared his throat. "John?"

"I know," John said, looking up from his menu. It was folded and put aside. "This morning."

Greg sighed. "It's not that I don't want to date you. I do--it's why I said yes."

"But you don't think I want to." John struck right to the heart of the matter.

"I'm old, John. If I'm wined and dined, it's for sex." Greg looked at the table and played with his silverware. "No one's been interested in me for a bit. And you...three continent Watson."

"Just because I like to have sex, doesn't mean I don't want to date or have a relationship," John said. He put his hand on Greg's. "Sex is good, but so is the rest of the mess. I also like the rush of love and then the settling in after. When you wake up and see your partner and a cuddle is more important than the sex the night before."

Greg wondered if that was what John wanted. "What do you want with me, John Watson? Casual dates and hot sex?"

"More," John whispered. He looked oddly vulnerable. "Some time in the future, I'm hoping we'll wake up next to each in the morning as often as possible. I want to open a practice and have a flat above it that we share."

"Oh."

Silence fell between them, but Greg's mind was moving fast. "So this isn't just sharing the occasional meal and lots of hot sex."

"No. I don't want to do it all right now, okay? Don't panic." John was smiling easy and it loosed a knot of stress and worry in Greg's gut. "Slow. But you asked what I wanted and some time in the future, that's what I want. What do you want?"

Greg felt pinned. He had never thought about that. He did like having sex with John, that was of no doubt. He did like waking up in the morning together and sometimes watching John sleep. But did he want more? Did he just want sex? He looked across to John's face and smiled.

"I want more. Not sure what I want right now, but it is more than just sex."

"Then we'll work on it together as we go on."

Greg nodded, letting out a breath.

~~~

The door slammed open as they pushed through it, locked together at the lips. John's hands were under Greg's shirt, scratching and massaging and grabbing at skin. Greg was trying to get his hands down John's pants, but he couldn't manage. He pushed John away a bit so he could get those tight trousers off and his mouth watered when he saw that John was completely outlined by his pants.

"Yours if you want it," John said with a smirk and a wink.

Greg growled and grabbed the front of John's shirt. "Want to fuck you."

John's eyes darkened and he reached for Greg's trousers. He placed biting kisses on Greg's lips and jaw. "Yes. Right here."

"Get undressed, I'll get the lube," Greg muttered and stumbled through the dark flat until he reached the table beside the couch. He dug around in the drawer until he finally got his hands on the slick tube. He turned back around and came face to face with John. "Hello, lover."

John smiled and kissed Greg, taking the lube. "Mm. Up against the wall or on the floor?"

"Couch," Greg said and turned them so John was falling back onto the cushions. He finished undressing and took the lube so he could prepare John himself. John rode his fingers, moaning and pushing back for more, his body greedily taking every push that Greg was giving it.

Finally, Greg pulled his fingers out and was replacing it with his cock. His back protested the position--kneeling on the floor and fucking up into John who, lord, had never looked more delicious. His legs were spread and his head and arms resting on the back of the couch. His fingers were bunching the fabric and his eyes were intense.

Greg kissed his lover's chest and ignored his back, putting all his effort into fucking John. John reached down between them and fisted his cock, toes curling. "Close."

Greg grunted and his hands gripped John's hips. "Come on. Want to feel it. Please, please, please."

"Greg," John whispered before he was yelling out and come was spilling over his hand. Greg swore as strong muscles gripped his cock and he was coming, too.

~~~

"Greg?"

Greg woke up slowly, wondering why his bed smelled like it hadn't been used in several years and why his back was killing him. He tried to move and swore as pain shot up his spine. "Ow."

John clucked. "Lucky for you, it's only two a.m. We can take a hot shower, yes?"

"If you can help me up," Greg muttered. He reached out his arms and John lifted him up. John looked adorable to Greg, dust bunnies in his hair and face flushed. He reached for John and kissed him. John moaned.

"Shower," John muttered.

There, they took their time, enjoying it and washing each other up. "This. I want more of this."

John raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Greg hugged him close. "Showers together. Sleepy and not sexual."

"We're going to need a big water heater," John said.

Greg nodded. "Of course. Especially for washing sheets if you plan to make us spend a lot of mornings there."

John was quiet, looking at Greg, for some time. Eventually, he kissed Greg with a full body squeeze. "So we're on the same page now?"

Greg nodded. "I think so, yes. Especially if you can put up with me even as my back grows worse."

John smiled. "Of course."

Greg nuzzled John's neck, happy and content.


End file.
